noun [from geography and Shakespeare, 2005] 1. A small forest of words in the great metropolis of Brooklyn 2. A collection of ruminations, photographs, and lists on topics including (but not limited to) books, writing, movies, television, theatre, current events, publishing, food, and nonsense 3. The blog of Cheryl Klein, reader, writer, children's books editor, and busy lady about town

There are a number of other little tweaks throughout the site -- updating the front page with my upcoming appearances and Et Cetera with material recently added to the blog. Thanks for checking it all out!

I've had the privilege of meeting your grandfather at the festival, and loved meeting him again in your speech.

I am going to send the link to my dear friend C.S. Adler, who had to cancel at the last minute. She was so sad she could not come, but I know she will want to read your memories of your grandfather and the festival.

I'm sitting here with goosebumps - literally - on my arms, and a lump in my throat. It's incredibly clear to me why you do what you do and why you love it. When your grandfather talked to you about A Curse Dark as Gold, I can only imagine how you felt.

I look at my 10-year-old daughter, who is also "retiring". She does not read books. She DEVOURS them. She reads faster than I do. She's read every Harry Potter book, much of Neil Gaiman's, loves Madison Finn, has skipped Twilight (thank you very much), but is also getting into Daniel Pinkwater (because I loved Daniel Pinkwater), the Happy Hollisters (because my wife loved them), and of course all the Little House books.

She probably reads five-ten books a week, depending on the length, and you can see her withdrawing into those worlds. Fortunately, she's got a set of close friends and would still rather be with them than in Hogsmeade. Truth be told, however, I think she'd prefer to be in Hogsmeade WITH her friends.

I had the same experience as you with Harry Potter. "What's this all about?" And then I read and read and read. And read to my kids, who now do it themselves. It's my depth of feeling for the characters of HP that inspires me to be a better writer.

When my son was little, after I read him Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the seventeenth time, he said, "How do I read?"

He figured it out, as did his sister. Thank you for posting the talk. As you can guess, it has certainly had an impact on me.

Cheryl: thanks for sharing the text of your talk with those of us who could not attend this conference. I envy your relationship with your grandfather. In today's mobile society, it is hard to maintain close family relationships.

I appreciated the categories in your speech. As a teacher, I have grieved over students who lack any avenue of empowerment or escape, who use role models from TV, movies, or tabloids for their self-creation, who grow up without any meaningful connections from within or from outside of their family structure. I applaud the writers among us who can, through the magic of their words, provide these avenues for the young minds of today.

Frontmatter

Ten things I love: Books, trees, stars, roasted vegetables, "Singin' in the Rain," medium-tip blue rollerball pens, oatmeal, community, Scrabble, and my tall black boots.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own and should not be taken as those of the company for which I work.

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Text and most photos copyright (c) 2003, 2005-2015 by Cheryl B. Klein. All opinions expressed here are solely my own and should not be taken to reflect the opinions or official positions of the company for which I work. Thanks for reading!